There are a couple of game series famous for their amazing final bosses. Yakuza/Like a Dragon has to be one, along with Metal Gear Solid, but Sonic the Hedgehog is another, as these final fights are stellar, and the music across them is always incredible.
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For a while, it was a tradition that a Crush 40 song would appear during the final boss, putting the hype levels beyond 100 percent. The music elevates the final bosses so much that they become almost legendary. Some final bosses are also quite a challenge, really putting you to the test.
All of these are true final bosses, not just final bosses of an individual character’s campaign. For 3D Sonic games, only the Last Story final boss will count.
10
Solaris: Sonic 06
A Phenomenal Ending To An Otherwise Bad Game
Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
Action-Adventure
Platformer
- Released
-
November 14, 2006
- Developer(s)
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Sonic Team
- Multiplayer
-
Local Multiplayer
- Engine
-
Havok
- ESRB
-
e
- How Long To Beat
-
16 Hours
You can say a lot of things about Sonic 06, but easily, its best aspect has to be the soundtrack. Most of the OST is a certified banger, and nothing highlights this better than the final boss music, which elevates the entire fight. After getting killed, Sonic gets resurrected and, along with Shadow and Silver, faces off against the biggest baddie of them all: Solaris.
The fight is simple yet effective in its simplicity and remains challenging enough. The music, particularly Solaris Phase 2, makes this a legendary final boss. A full-blown instrumental of the main theme, His World, the hype levels go through the roof in the same vein as Metal Gear Rising.
9
Final Weapon: Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Where The Legend Of Super Sonic Was Born
The final fight against Eggman in Death Egg Zone is already great, but for completionists of Sonic 3 & Knuckles, there’s one last stage: Doomsday Zone. As Super Sonic, you must catch up to the Final Weapon and destroy it. You’re completely invincible as long as you have rings, which still makes it challenging.
While Super Sonic was in Sonic 2, this final boss was when Super Sonic became legendary in the series. Just ramming into the boss to damage it is so awesome, and the gameplay here has become a final boss tradition in the series.
8
Death Egg Robot: Sonic The Hedgehog 2
The Most Iconic Final Boss In The Series
- Released
-
November 21, 1992
- Multiplayer
-
Local Multiplayer
- Engine
-
Proprietary Engine
- ESRB
-
E for Everyone
- How Long To Beat
-
3 Hours
If you speak to any average Sonic fan and ask what the first final boss you think of in the series is, the majority of folks will respond with the final boss of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. The good old Death Egg Robot just has the most iconic design out there, bringing Eggman perfectly into robot form.
The fight’s pretty easy, so it doesn’t get any points in the challenge department, but the fact that it has reappeared in numerous other Sonic games is a tell of how much it affected the community. One other variant of the boss debatably tops the original.
7
Death Egg Robot: Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Episode 1
The Evolution Of A Predator
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 gets a bad rap, and deservedly so, for its physics changes and unoriginality, but the final boss of Episode 1 is one of the things the developers got right. The final stage is a boss rush until you face the Death Egg Robot again. At first, it seems lame, with the boss having most of the same attacks, but once enough damage is dealt, the robot goes berserk.
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This is when the fight gets tough and challenging because this fat robot isn’t a slow-poke anymore. It moves fast, and it’s a great evolution of what perhaps the original final boss in Sonic 2 should have been. Once you’ve finally defeated the Death Egg Robot, it’s quite satisfying, and you can’t say that about the boss’s original incarnation.
6
Nega-Wisp Armor: Sonic Colors
A Fun Final Boss At The End Of The Day
One boss fight type that the Sonic games love to use is the runway boss. The developers use this template in so many games, including Sonic X Shadow Generations, for a reason: it’s always a ton of fun. Going fast is the core fun factor of Sonic’s gameplay, so having a fight where you constantly move forward just clicks.
These fights usually aren’t the final boss, except in Sonic Colors. The Nega-Wisp Armor proves a fun finale to the game, if a little interchangeable with other runway bosses in the franchise. That’s why it’s not in the top echelon of Sonic final bosses, but it’s still a fun time and the music kicks ass.
5
The End: Sonic Frontiers
Waiting A Week To Play The Game Won’t Beat The Boss This Time
The boss fights were among the most praised aspects of Sonic Frontiers by both fans and critics. Not only are the bosses a lot of fun but they are filled with hype moments. That said, it’s a damn shame that most players never faced the true final boss. In Sonic Frontiers, there are multiple difficulty modes that, frankly, don’t change the game that much.
However, make sure you switch to Hard mode before the final boss, as that’ll allow you to battle The End. Out of nowhere, you play a 2D vertical shooter as you chip away at the boss’s health bar. It’s challenging, a ton of fun, and an awesome way to mix up the gameplay to make this a standout final boss unlike any other in the series.
4
Time Eater: Sonic Generations
One Of The Greatest And Hardest Bosses In The Series
Out of all the Sonic games, Sonic Generations has to be one of the easier titles in the franchise, which makes the difficulty of the final boss even more surprising. The Time Eater is no joke. With the same gameplay premise as Sonic 3 & Knuckles, you must chase the boss to ram into it for massive damage.
The issue here is getting to him because if you’re not boosting properly, keep getting hit, or not collecting enough rings, you’ll have a tough time dealing damage. It takes some tight movement and reaction skills to beat him, but it’s incredibly satisfying once you do.
3
Dr. Eggman And Phantom King: Sonic Mania
The Best Mechanical Final Boss In The Series
Like most of Sonic Mania, the final boss takes cues from the classic titles but updates them to their best form yet. In a two-part battle, you first face Dr. Eggman solo in his octopus-like machine. It’s much harder and more complex than the classic titles, which is something you’d expect coming from developers who first made acclaimed Sonic fan games.
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Fan games tend to go on the harder side, and the second part of the final boss also falls in line with that. As Super Sonic, you must defeat Eggman and the Phantom King, and your ring supply is quite limited in this encounter. Your skills are put to the test here, and the mechanical depth far exceeds that of the other final bosses in the classic games.
2
Perfect Chaos: Sonic Adventure 1
The Originator Of The Hype Final Boss
After completing every character’s campaign in Sonic Adventure 1, you unlock the Last Story segment. A lot of players will not get that far, but those who witness the true ending will be in for a treat. Sonic finally turns into Super Sonic as he faces off against Perfect Chaos while Crush 40’s Open Your Heart plays.
This was the first Crush 40 song used in the series, the start of an incredible partnership that the band has become synonymous with, and starting the tradition of having a banger song used in the final boss fight. The encounter’s fun, it’s hype, and it gets a lot of bonus points for being the very first.
1
Finalhazard: Sonic Adventure 2
No Contest
While Sonic Adventure 1 started the hype final boss tradition, Sonic Adventure 2 did it better and remains king to this day. After completing both stories and beating one of the hardest final levels in Cannon’s Core, Sonic and Shadow finally team up to face the final boss.
What makes this fight a final boss GOAT is the music, Live and Learn. Debatably the most iconic track in the series, it’s easily Crush 40’s best work on the franchise. The hype levels were just unbelievable at the time, and it felt so good to have this moment after going through such a difficult final stage.
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